Wrapping machine

ABSTRACT

A machine for wrapping a cylindrical thing with an axial bore comprising a frame with grasping members to crimp a tab of a wrapping paper, means to support the frame rotatably, means to rotate the frame to make the grasping members fold down the tab and a pusher for pushing the tab into the axial bore of the cylindrical thing.

[451 Apr., 30, 1974 United States Patent [191 Kamiya Knapp et al.

[ 1 WRAPPING MACHINE [76] Inventor:

lsao Kamiya, N0. 310, 6-2, 3whom? Sodegaura Narashinoshi, Primary Exammer-Travrs S. McGehee Chiba-ken, Japan Nov. 22, 1972 Appl. No 308,843

7 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz &

Nissen [22] Filed:

[57] ABSTRACT A machine for wrapping a cylindrical thing with an 53/204, 53/380 [51] Int.

[52] US. axial borecomprising a frame with grasping members B651 11/54 to crimp a tab of a wrapping paper, means to support Field of Search................... 53/204, 380 the frame rotatably, means to ro ate the frame to make the grasping members fold down the tab and a References Cit d pusher for pushing the tab into the axial bore of the UNITED STATES PATENTS cylmdncal 2,692,464 10/1954 Thompson 53/204 7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures WRAPPING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a machine for wrapping a cylindrical thing with an axial bore, and more specifically to a machine for wrapping a toilet paper in paper. In Japanese Patent No. 431,791 an apparatus is proposed that can fold a tab of a wrapping paper in a continuous operation by the use of a composite movement consisting of a rotary motion of a rolled paper about its axis and linear motions of tabfolding rolls which travel in contact with an end of said rolled paper in part of their cyclic movements, with the rolled paper and the tab-folding rolls being driven at a certain speed ratio. However, this apparatus is complicated and expensive, and spends much time in wrapping a roll of paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive machine which is able to wrap such a cylindrical thing with an axial bore as toilet paper and to push part of a tab of a wrapper into said bore, which prevents the wrapper from being loosened.

Attaining the foregoing object, the preferred wrapping machine has a generally cylindrical frame supported rotatably by a supporting means, such rotary means as a torque actuator for rotating said frame, a plurality of grasping members moving radially on a plane normal to the axis of rotation of the frame which grasp a tab of a wrapper and a pushing member that pushes part of said tab into an axial bore of the cylindrical thing. It is more preferable for the machine to include means for carryingsaid frame toward and away from said cylindrical thing.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will appear hereinafter'in the detailed description, be particularly pointed out in the appended claims and be illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an isometric view showing a preferred embodiment of the wrapping machine of the present inventionj FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned view of FIG. 1 showing only two of the grasping members and in addition a cylindrical thing and a wrapper in chain lines;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the frame portion of the wrapping machine of this invention; and

FIGS. 4 to 8 inclusive are isometric views showing the process of wrapping by the machine of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings and particularly to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, there are shown a wrapping machine 1, such a cylindrical thing 2 as toilet paper with an axial bore or hole 2' and a wrapper or wrapping paper 3 tabs 3' of which extends beyond both ends of said cylindrical thing 2.

The machine 1 comprises a generally cylindrical frame 4 which consists of a pair of end walls 5 and 6 and a plurality of wall plates 7 fastened to the walls 5 and 6 by pins 8. The end wall 5 is provided with a hole or bore 5' in the center thereof and a plurality of radial openings 9, and in each of the radial openings 9 extends a guide bar or rod 10 which engages and guides an arm or limb 11' with a ball bush 12 of each of grasping members or graspers 11. These graspers 11 are generally of such forms as to make a circular plate or column when they are concentrated. Each arm 11 is attached to a piston rod 13' of each of a plurality of cylinder means 13, each cylinder 13" of which is rigidly fixed on the inside surface of the end wall 5. If the cylinders 13" are fixed on the outside surface of the wall 5, said openings 9, bars 10 and arms 11' may be omitted. In this case the graspers 11 have to be attached directly to the piston rod 13.

. A pusher or pushing member 14 is preferably cylindricaland the diameter thereof must be a little shorter than that of said bore 2. This pusher 14 is attached to a piston rod 15' of a cylinder means 15 on the axial line of said frame 4, and a cylinder 15" of the means 15 is supported by the end wall 6 and a bracket 16 fixed on the wall 5.

The frame 4 is rotatably supported by a supporting means 17 comprising bearings 18 fixed on a plate 19 and a pair of rollers 20 supported rotatably by said bearings 18. The plate 19 mounts on a bed 21 and includes a pair of skirts 22 and rollers 23 on the inside wall thereof, which enables the plate 19 to move horizontally without derailment. And, the plate 19 is supported by a plurality of roller bearings 24 secured on the plate 19 to move in rolling engagement with the bed 21. On the bed 21 there are fixed a cylinder 25" of a plate-carrying cylinder means 25 and a stopper 26 for the plate 19, and a piston rod 25 of said means 25 is connected with the plate 19 so as to push and pull it.

A torque actuator 27 is a well-known thing, which comprises a cylinder portion 28 fastened rigidly on the plate 19, a piston 29 fitting slidably on the inside wall of the cylinder 28 and a torque rod or shaft 30 extending into the cylinder 28 and the piston 29 and secured to the center of the end wall 6. Bearings 31 and 32 formed respectively on the side wall of the cylinder 28 and on the shaft 30 engage respectively an oblique openings or gutters 33 and 34 of the piston 29 in a slidable fashion, so that when the piston 29 is moved left or right in FIG. 2, the shaft 30 rotates some angle. Needless to say, in place of the torque actuator 27 any other rotary means is available.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a frame portion of this invention. The frame 40 comprises a drum 41, an end wall 42, cross walls 43 and 44 which are fixed to the drum 41 by pins 45 and a center ring 46 connected to the drum 41 by a plurality of radial guide rods or bolts 47 and nuts 48 engaging said rods 47. Each of the rods 47 engages and guides a ball bush 49 secured in an arm 50' of each of grasping members 50. The arms 50' are connected by ropes, cords or strings 51 to a flange 52 formed on a piston rod 53 of a cylinder means 53. A cylinder 53" of this means 53 is supported by the end wall 42 and a leg 54 fixed on the drum 41. The ropes 51 are guided by pulleys 55 arranged in the frame 40. The cylinder means 53 coacting with the ropes 51 moves the graspers 50 radially. The leg 54 and the cross walls 43, 44 are provided with openings'54, 43 and 44' for the ropes 51. A pusher 56 is attached to the piston rod 57 of a cylinder means 57, and a cylinder 57" thereof is secured to the cross walls 43 and 44. And the pusher 56 can reciprocate on the axial line of the drum 41 through the center ring 46.

The machine 1 is operated in such a way as described hereinafter:

The cylindrical thing 2 is positioned in front of the end wall with a piece of wrapping paper 3, as shown in FIG. 2. By means of the air pressure given by the cyl inder means 25 the rod 25 moves leftward and pushes the plate 19 to the place where the graspers 1 l are near one end of the cylindrical thing 2. Next to this operation, the graspers 11 are moved by the cylinder means 13 toward the axial line of the frame 4, as shown byarrows in FIG. 4. By this operation the tab 3' is crimped to form crimps 3", as shown in FIG. 5.

Then, the torque actuator 27 revolves the frame 4 with the graspers 11 as shown by an arrow in FIG. 5, which folds down the crimps 3 as in FIG. 6. The graspers 1 1 are returned by the cylinder means 13 away from the axial line of the frame 4, and thepusher 14, being driven by the cylinder means 15, moves into the bore 2, as shown in FIG. 7. After these operations the pusher 14 and the plate 19, being driven by the cylinder means 15 and 25, move right in FIG. 2, and the frame 4 is revolved to the first position by the torque actuator 27. One end of the cylindrical thing 2 has been wrapped as shown in FIG. 8 by the operations described above, and the other end thereof may be wrapped in the same way. Of course, it is more preferable to wrap both ends of the cylindrical thing 2 simultaneously by using two wrapping machines.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, one cylinder means 53 is enough to move all the graspers 50; when the piston rod 53 and the flange 52 move rightward in FIG. 3, the graspers 50 move radially toward the axial line of the frame 40. The other operations are not different much from the first embodiment.

It 'should be understood that the described and dis-- closed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention and that all modifications are intended to be included that do not depart from the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A wrapping machine comprising a frame with a plurality of cylinder-driven grasping members, supporting means supporting said frame in a rotatable fashion, rotary means rotating said frame-round an axial line thereof, said cylinder-driven grasping members moving radially normal to said axial line, and a cylinder-driven pusher movable on said axial line.

2. A wrapping machine according to claim 1, wherein the frame is cylindrical, the supporting means is comprised of a pair of rollers and-bearings fixed on a plate, said frame mounting rotatably on said rollers which are supported rotatably by said bearings, and the rotary means is a torque actuator.

3. A wrapping machine according to claim 2, including. carrying means of the plate, and wherein a shaft and a cylinder of said torque actuator are secured respectively to said frame on the axial line thereof and to said plate.

4. A wrapping machine according to claim 3, wherein the carrying means of the plate is comprised of a bed, a plate-carrying cylinder means, a cylinder thereof being fixed on said bed, and a plurality of roller bearings secured on the plate to move in rolling engagement with said bed, a piston rod of said plate-carrying cylinder means being connected with said plate.

5..A wrapping machine according to claim 4, including a plurality of guide rods arranged radially normal to said axial line, and wherein each of the grasping members engages slidably each of said guide rods, and the cylinder-driven pusher is attached to an end of a piston rod of a cylinder means secured in said frame.

6. A wrapping machine according to claim 5, wherein each of the grasping members is secured to a piston rod of each of a plurality of cylinder means arranged on a plane normal to said axial line.

7. A wrapping machine according to claim 5, wherein a piston rod of a cylinder means secured ,in said frame is connected by ropes with each of said grasping members, said ropes being guided by a plurality of pulleys arranged in said frame. 

1. A wrapping machine comprising a frame with a plurality of cylinder-driven grasping members, supporting means supporting said frame in a rotatable fashion, rotary means rotating said frame round an axial line thereof, said cylinder-driven grasping members moving radially normal to said axial line, and a cylinder-driven pusher movable on said axial line.
 2. A wrapping machine according to claim 1, wherein the frame is cylindrical, the supporting means is comprised of a pair of rollers and bearings fixed on a plate, said frame mounting rotatably on said rollers which are supported rotatably by said bearings, and the rotary means is a torque actuator.
 3. A wrapping machine according to claim 2, including carrying means of the plate, and wherein a shaft and a cylinder of said torque actuator are secured respectively to said frame on the axial line thereof and to said plate.
 4. A wrapping machine according to claim 3, wherein the carrying means of the plate is comprised of a bed, a plate-carrying cylinder means, a cylinder thereof being fixed on said bed, and a plurality of roller bearings secured on the plate to move in rolling engagement with said bed, a piston rod of said plate-carrying cylinder means being connected with said plate.
 5. A wrapping machine according to claim 4, including a plurality of guide rods arranged radially normal to said axial line, and wherein each of the grasping members engages slidably each of said guide rods, and the cylinder-driven pusher is attached to an end of a piston rod of a cylinder means secured in said frame.
 6. A wrapping machine according to claim 5, wherein each of the grasping members is secured to a piston rod of each of a plurality of cylinder means arranged on a plane normal to said axial line.
 7. A wrapping machine according to claim 5, wherein a piston rod of a cylinder means secured in said frame is connected by ropes with each of said grasping members, said ropes being guided by a plurality of pulleys arranged in said frame. 